This is a memory from my teenage years while at our cottage on Brereton Lake in the Whiteshell. It was the custom at the time when families got to gather for dinner that there would be a cocktail hour. I suspect that I was underage but my parents allowed it at the lake and this was where I was introduced to some more sophisticated drinks that expanded my limited experience. Things like Champagne, Irish coffee, Tom Collins, and yes the Gin & Tonic. It seemed like one of our good family friends was responsible for these fancier cocktails as a pre-dinner libation and I was always happy to get in on the action.
The brand of choice
The Gin and Tonic was only ever around in the summertime and at the lake. It seemed to be the special beverage to enjoy at the end of a hot summer day.
Every once in a while I’ll break out a G&T at the lake and remember fondly those younger years with friends & family.
This is The Piano. It’s been in our home for over 20 years now and yesterday it gave me a very bitter sweet surprise.
The Piano
When I first met The Piano it was in the home of family friends, the McKenzies, who lived on Niakwa Road. Our families would visit back and forth over the years and my memories of The Piano was that it was used by many people who played it during parties. Usually, there were several people gathered round and singing various songs lead by the pianist.
As time went on the McKenzies moved to Toronto and my parents bought their house on Niakwa Road and The Piano came with the house. My mom played and I tried to learn how off and on with very little commitment and a corresponding amount of success.
More time passes and as my parents downsized out of their home, The Piano had to find a new home, and it came to stay with us. I’d always hoped to learn to play. At one point Shirley gave me in-home piano lessons and I made a bit of progress. However, I was a less than diligent student and my lack of commitment to practicing meant that I still can’t play the piano. But, I have very fond memories of all the times my mom played The Piano over the years.
Yesterday, I’m laying on the floor near The Piano doing some stretching. I’ve been on the floor in this area many times but this time I see a yellow post-it note up under The Piano, something I’d never noticed before.
The Note
That’s my mom’s handwriting. She passed away over 22 years ago but in an instant it was like she was there with me. Seeing her handwriting confirming the generous gift of The Piano was very overwhelming and emotional. Thanks mom, I miss you.
It’s a calm clear morning. The lake is calm. It’s just as the sun is coming over the horizon. A boat goes by towards Smith Camps. The wake of the boat sends waves out in both directions.
The wake
Shortly, the boat is gone but the waves still travel outward. Because I’ve passed by this way my life, my presences has an impact. It sends out “waves” that have an impact long after I’m gone. Waves hit the shore and then reverberate back out again. Not as strong but still making “waves” like the impact on a second generation.
I want my “waves” to have the best possible impact on those around me as I pass by. 2021/9/9
This weekend, August 28-29, is the 14th annual Princess Margaret Cancer Research Foundation’s Ride to Conquer Cancer and it will be my first.
I became aware of this ride while I was in Toronto at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PMH) receiving CAR-T treatment for lymphoma. Today, thanks to this cutting edge treatment, I’m cancer free. Every time I was in the PMH elevator I’d see this picture on the door and as an avid cyclist, I knew this was for me.
Thank-you to all who supported me on the ride and this cause. Together we raised $2,696.10 and the ride in total raised an amazing $9,910,000 for life-saving cancer research.
Being optimistic and liking to set a challenging goal for myself I announced that I’d ride 100 miles or 160 km, the classic cyclist century ride. So, several months ago I started a formal training plan riding indoors or outdoors three times a week following a Trainerroad plan. For a couple of months this worked quite well and I stuck with the plan. Then, somewhere along the line the plan fell off the rails. I was still riding a fair bit but it was more sporadic and solo and group outdoor rides replaced the formal training efforts.
Over the last while I put in some 70, 80 and 100km rides but no 160km rides. All the over 70km rides turned out to be pretty challenging so I was not so sure about the 160km goal.
In sharing this goal with Shirley and my doctors they were supportive about the ride but cautious about my distance goal. It was suggested that something shorter might be appropriate or at least splitting the ride over two days.
As the weekend rolled around I was still undecided about the distance and was really going to approach it by “feel”. We found ourselves at the lake on the August weekend and some of the family was out as well. I really wanted to spend maximum time with the family so I skipped the two group rides that I could have hooked up with on Saturday and Sunday. As it turned out the family had to leave early on Sunday afternoon, so it was time to ride!
In the driveway with my new “Ambassador” jersey
Normally at the lake I ride right from the cottage. However, there has been quite a bit of fresh gravel road work done recently which is really unpleasant to ride on so Shirley gave me a lift to the Fire Hall at the start of Storm Bay road so I could launch right onto the paved highway. I’m underway at about 1:30pm.
Ready to Ride
Off we go!
Given the wind direction I opted to ride basically south on Hwy 71. I’d take 17A from the Fire Hall for a few kms and then turn south onto Hwy 71. As I’m riding I still hadn’t committed myself to a distance. After about 1/2 hr I’m thinking 50km out and 50km back for a respectable metric century. Not the originally conceived 160km but still a respectable goal.
As I approached the 50km mark there was a sign on the side of the road, “Souix Narrows – 16km”. Hmmm, I’ve never ridden to Souix Narrows on the bike and it’s just 16km more than I was planning or really 32km more than planned but what the heck. A new goal was in place and I wanted that picture of me at the iconic Souix Narrow bridge.
Being in Winnipeg means that almost all my riding is on the flat prairies. This is not the case when riding at the lake in Northwestern Ontario. There are a lot of hills. As I’m working my way to Souix Narrows I start reflecting on just how many hills there are and that I’ll need to do them all again in the reverse direction.
Finally, after what seems like a very long time, I arrive in Souix Narrows and stop for the “bridge shot”.
Souix Narrows Bridge & Me
Once in town I take a break for mid-ride refuelling and eat my bagel & cream cheese with a very hungry fish looking on.
After the snack it’s back on the road. Things seem to fly by for the first while and then around the 70-80km mark things are seemingly a lot harder. I’m getting tired and the solo boredom is setting in but as a friend often says spin, spin, spin. The weather is a mix of sun and cloud with a little more cloud than I’d like including a few brief rain showers. One was hard enough to get me to stop and put the phone in a baggie. Mentally in my mind I’m ticking off the major markers, Luther Village then Rushing River, then 17 & 71 intersection, then Reddens, then The Fire Hall where Shirley will be waiting to drive me back to the cottage. I’m very thankful I don’t have to do the hills on our Branch Road #3 which has one that is a short but steep 9-10% grade.
Like all good rides it really didn’t happen unless you’ve recorded it on Strava. Due to a bit of bad planning on my part the bike computer ran out of battery at 43km so the ride got recorded in two parts.
Total distance of 124.9 km in 5 hrs and 10 min moving and 5 hrs and 38 min elapsed time. All in all a good day and I’m satisfied with the effort.
So we’re at “Delta” now (Spring 2021) are you ready for “Epsilon”?
With the WHO’s newest naming convention for COVID Variants of Interest (VOI) and Varients of Concern (VOC) and something you don’t hear too much about, Variant of High Consequence (VOHC) we’re going to hear a lot more Greek letter names in the media.
While VOCs are getting most of the attention and the alpha, beta, gamma and delta names VOIs are also using up some of the Greek letters like ets, iota, kappa and lambda (hey, what happened to theta?). Only 26 names and we’re burning through them pretty fast.
As a result, we’re likely to become more familiar with the Greek alphabet, so here you go.
Name
Character
Pronunciation
alpha
α
AL-phuh
beta
β
BAY-tuh
gamma
γ
GAMM-muh
delta
δ
DELL-tuh
epsilon
ε
EPP-sih-lonn
zeta
ζ
ZAY-tuh
eta
η
AY-tuh
theta
θ
THAY-tuh
iota
ι
ee-OH-tuh
kappa
κ
CAPP-uh r
lambda
λ
LAMM-duh (What animal is that? It’s a “LAMB — duh”!!)
While the whole Covide-19 pandemic crisis is certainly historic I really got a better sense of this when I was getting vaccinated.
Filing into the RBC convention centre with hundreds or perhaps even thousands of other people and watching the co-ordination and effort going into the vaccine process really drove home the magnitude of the global impact that Covide-19 is having. To think that this whole process is happening continuously around the world is quite amazing.
As time goes on there is more and more controversy surrounding the vaccines and the associated mandates that are coming into place. I’m happy to get vaccinated and satisfied with the science behind it. Is it perfect? Probably not. Long term risks? Possibly. Life is full of imperfect choices that we make every day with whatever information we have. Life itself is not perfectly safe, there will be trouble. There are no guarantees beyond the present moment. Memento Mori
This was a bit of a random pic but I like the way it represents the sun, mountains, oceans/lakes, and trees/forests all things I like and enjoy, the outdoor life.
Next week we will revive the prime candidate for a real tattoo that has a lot of significance to Shirley and I.
It’s been a warm dry spring ahead of the May long weekend and if things had been more normal we’d be sipping our morning coffee on the deck at the lake.
But things are not normal
So, here we are, sipping coffee in the back yard.
The view is not quite the same and neither are the sounds. In fact, the sounds are probably the most annoying and something I’m trying to adjust to so I’m calling them the “Symington Symphony” just to put a positive spin on it.
We live close to Symington Yards and when they are busy there is a lot of piercing high frequency squealing from the brakes on the rail cars which is quite something. Mix that in with the pretty much non-stop hum/roar of the traffic on Lagimodiere Blvd, a few sirens for good measure, and you have your symphony.
With the Ontario border being closed until at least June 2nd, this will be the first time ever that we have not opened the cottage on or before the May long weekend. I get the idea about limiting travel and unfortunately we’re being controlled down to the lowest common denominator because some people just can’t follow some common sense guidelines.
For us, we can load up, take the bypass around Kenora, never have to go into town, and come home the same way and most likely see less people that we do now here in Winnipeg, which is almost nobody anyway.
However, with the OPP successfully blocking access on Hwy #1 at the border there is really no workaround. Some people we know have been permitted the one 24hr visit to your property to check on winter damage or make repairs. Some, on the 2nd trip have been turned back so it seems they are taking names and checking a list. 🙁
Hopefully, on June 2nd they will relax the border issue and lake season at the cottage will resume in somewhat of a normal fashion. Looking forward to trying out my new Oarboard with the help of Des’s SUP!
